[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by SURVIVORfan44

...Since students are not allowed into the meetings, we can't exactly show the schoolboard how it gives us the experience....

Who is allowed into the meetings? Just board members? That would hardly be very transparent.

Originally Posted by Billfred

OOO-GAH! OOOO-GAH! GRACIOUS PROFESSIONALISM ALERT!

Would it make your grandmother proud to know that you are skipping class on purpose, then lying about it?

The real ethical dilemma is whether the greater evil is skipping class under false pretenses to do something more productive, or letting the school board make a bad decision on your behalf. (That is to say, you think that it's more productive, and that they're making a bad decision, though they might disagree on both counts.) I can think of a few situations where skipping class and lying about it would be more efficaceous (for your purposes) than trying to convince an unwilling or incompetent school board—but that's not licence to make arbitrary mischief. In standing up for your needs, you have to weigh that sort of decision very carefully; is it honourable, is it legal, is it necessary, have you exhausted all simpler options? Most importantly, are you absolutely sure that you're right, and they're wrong; and is this fact demonstrable? Though civilized protest is considered an annoyance, it's generally tolerated by society; if you have to break the rules, do it cautiously and with due consideration—it's by no means the easy way to get what you feel that you deserve. And you're very probably going to get in trouble for doing it. So is the trouble worth it? That's not something that we can tell you; it's a judgment call.

For the sake of completeness, is there another option by which you might avoid the dilemma in the first place, while still getting what you want? Or worse, does the school board actually have a good, solid reason for doing what it's doing? Carefully address these points, before undertaking any sort of violation of the rules, in order to make the best of a bad situation.*

Originally Posted by HRobotics

Unfortunately, our school (Havergal College in Toronto, Canada) does not fully understand FIRST or appreciate it as much as our team. This year, we aren't doing the FRC. Recently, we've also had a conflict with them concerning power tools, which they won't let us use anymore. This means that we can't build for fun like we had originally planned to do. This also means that we may not be able to go back to FIRST next year either. Of course, the whole team is extremely upset about this. We've tried talking to the school but our questions about why they are placing these restrictions have gone unanswered. Are any other teams out there experiencing similar problems? If so, how are you dealing with it? If not, do you have any ideas?

Someone mentioned earlier that parents are the customers; frighteningly enough, this is the sad reality. (Sad, because students are not infrequently caught between their own parents and a school's administration—but that's another story....) You may be able to use this to your advantage. Call me a little cynical, but since Havergal is a private school, the connection between ongoing financial support and the parents is probably pretty obvious to the administration; I'd imagine that they'll tend to be more open to your parents' concerns, than yours.

I'm curious as to what the reasons for their power tool limitations are. I suspect liability (and therefore insurance) is partly the reason. Of course they're insured against various sorts of harm that may befall you at school; but do you have details of the policy—does it cover the things that are inherent to robotics? This information shouldn't be withheld from you (after all, the policy covers you, as a student); ask your principal directly for this (and for the name of the insurer), and see what answer you get. If their policy doesn't cover robotics, ask them what it would take to get it added. There might be an increased premium to add coverage (and you'd be on the hook for the difference), but that's better than not having a team in the first place.

If it's just a general fear of injury that prompts them to keep you away from the power tools, education is likely the answer. In this situation, you've got to make clear to them that you know what you're doing; this means, firstly, making sure that everybody actually does know what they're doing, and secondly, proving this to the school. I should hope that they will be receptive to this sort of logic—after all, they're probably as likely to lose a hand in a car accident as you are to lose a hand to an out-of-control tool, and in both cases, informed and responsible users mitigate the risk of injury. Show them that you're not at unreasonable risk, and they might relent.

The worst case is, of course, if they have some ideological reason for not supporting robotics, or technical skills in general; perhaps they think it unfeminine**, unprofessional or uneducational. We would consider these things to be totally fallacious, but how do you convince someone else of this? That's something to discuss in more detail, if this is an issue.

If nothing works out, there are many teams in the Toronto area that would certainly be open to acquiring some extra talent for the build season; don't hesitate to talk to other local teams about a "Plan B", both for the 2006 season, and for the future, if you're still at an impasse.

*Alright, I realize that this is a controversial position, but it is not outside of the realm of possibility that a school board might be so fundamentally out of touch with reality, that the best resolution to a given situation involves—after thorough examination of the options available—breaking a few rules. Look at Dover, PA, for instance....
**Havergal is a girls' school, for those who didn't know, and didn't catch the unsubtle contextual clue.